TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Patrice Rio Capella, a member of House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing justice and human rights, has agreed that the Police's authority in conducting phone tapping should be escalated. According to Rio, the authority is necessary because the Police must handle various cases.
"The Police needs the authority to investigate drugs, terrorism, and fugitive cases. The rate of success to expose the cases could be higher with phone tapping," Rio said at the Senayan Parliament Complex on Thursday, June 25, 2015.
Rio said that different from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that only handles corruption cases, the Police is a large and well-established institution with wider network.
"Both institutions must be closely monitored to avoid human rights violations," Rio added.
Another Commission III member Ruhut Sitompul also agreed that the police should have more authority to conduct phone tapping. Ruhut added that the law enforcers must have equal authorities.
"The solution is to provide equal authority in phone tapping to three law enforcers," Ruhut said.
Commission III deputy chairman Desmond Junaedi Mahesa said that the plan to bestow the police with more authorities in phone tapping should first be discussed because the Prosecutor's Office might also requested for the same authority.
"We will sit with the three law enforcers to discuss their necessities," Desmond said.
INDRI MAULIDAR
